Folding wardrobe.



No. 802,486. PATENTED OCT. 24%;, 1905. I". 8; D. VAN NOSTRANDa FOLDING WARDROBE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.Z1,1905.

WITNESSES.

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FREDERICK VAN NOSTRANII) AND DANIEL VAN N OS'lTltr-XND, 01+ 'Dl llROl'l, hiIIOl-IIGAN.

FOlJDlNG: WARDRUBE,

Specification of Letters Patent.

li atented Oct. 2%, 1905.

Application filed February 21, 1905. Serial No. 246,653.

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lie it known that we, FREDERICK VAN Nos- TRAND and DANIEL VAN Nos'rnAN citizens of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of \Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Folding VVa-rdrobes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in folding wardrobes, display racks, seats, shelves, &c.; and its object is to provide a very cheap and simple means for supporting the shelf of the structure when in its extended position and for connecting the parts so that they will fold one upon another into a small space and so that they will cooperate to form a lock to hold the structure extended and make it rigid.

' It is also an object of the invention to provide a very light and cheap structure consisting, substantially, of a framework adapted to.

be inelosed by curtains and having a shelf or shelves, the front and back being so connected that when the structure is folded the feet or lower ends of both will engage the floor the same as when extended.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device having the several advantages of the particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whiehf Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying our invention, and Fig. 2 an end elevation showing the same in its folded position.

For convenience of illustration, a structure suitable for use as a wardrobe is shown, 1 1 being vertical posts at the rear corners of the wardroliie, 2 a cross-bar connecting the upper ends of said posts, and 3 and 4 are crossstrips connecting said posts at a distance from their upper and lower ends, respectively, all together forming a rectangular open frame, which is the rear side of the wardrobe, asimilar rectangular frame forming the front of the wardrobe, consisting of vertical posts 5, connected at their upper ends by a heading or finishing-strip 6 and near their lower ends by a cross-bar 7.

Shelves 8 and 9 are hinged at their forward edges to the posts 5 to turn up against the inner faces of saidposts near the upper and lower ends thereof, respectively, and the back frame is connected to these shelves by bars 10 and 11, ashort and a long bar being provided for each end of each shelf. The short orsupporting bars 10 are pivotally secured at one end to the shelves by means of screws or bolts passing through holes in the bars into theinner faces of the cleats or end strips 12 on the shelves and at their opposite ends by similarmeans to the posts 1 at such a point that when the shelves are turned to their horizontal position they will rest upon the upper edges of the bars and be supported thereby, said bars being of such a length that when the shelves are turned to their vertical position against the posts 5 the rear frame or posts 1 will not be raised from the floor, but will still form supports upon which the structure will stand in an upright position when folded.

Thedistance along each bar from the point at which it is pivoted to its shelf and the in nor face of the post 1, to which it pivoted at its opposite end, and the distance from said point to the edge of the shelf adapted to engage said face being the same, the said edges of the shelves are forced into frictional contact with the posts when said shelves are turned to extend or open the wardrobe, thus forming a lock to hold the shelves from being accidentally lifted and to bind the structure into a rigid frame.

The brace-bars 11 are pivoted at one end to the end faces of the posts 1 and at their opposite ends to the ends of the shelves by screws or bolts. passing through holes in their ends and are pivoted at such points that when the shelves are raised to fold the wardrobe the posts 1 will still rest on the floor and when the shelves are turned down to extend the avardrobe will form braces to support said shelves. It is obvious that the position of these bars might be changed as that both bars 10 and 11 might be put upon the outside of the posts or both upon the inside, and instead of the slatted shelves shown solid ones could be used as well, the slats being used for the sake of lightness. lf desired, the longitudinal slats or boards forming the shelves proper may be omitted and only the end strips 12 used, the supporting and brace bars being attached to said strips and the strips hinged to the posts 5, thus leaving the interior of the wardrobe entirely clear.

A series of hooks 13 is provided on the cross-strip 3, which extends across just below the upper shelf, and a rod 14, secured to the heading 6, is provided, upon which may be strung a suitable curtain to close the front of the wardrobe. Itis proposed to form the ends and top by tacking cloth to the posts, and the back may be similarly covered or may be left open, as the wardrobe is usually placed against a wall.

The device may be used as a Wall-rack by constructing it similar to the upper half of the wardrobe shown, the posts 5 extending only a short distance below the upper shelf and the posts 1 being just long enough to furnish places for pivoting the brace-bars 11. The rack thus formed may be secured to the wall at the desired height, and long curtains at the front and ends may be provided to conceal the clothing hanging on the hooks 13.

Having thus fully described our invention, what We claim is 1. The combination with independent vertical front and back frame members, of members hinged to the vertical front member and adapted to be turned to a horizontal position into engagement with the vertical back members to space said members, and bars pivoted at one end to the hinged members and at their opposite ends to the back member at such a point that when the hinged members are turned into a horizontal position to engage the back member said bars will also extend in a horizontal direction and support said hinged members.

2. The combination with independent vertically-extending front and back frame members, of ashelf hinged at one edge to said front member, bars pivoted at one end to said shelf and at their opposite ends to the back frame member at such a point that when the shelf is turned to the horizontal into engagement with the rear frame member, the bars will lie in a horizontal position in engagement with the lower surface of the shelf to support the same.

3. The combination with independent vertically-extending front and back frame members, of a shelf hinged at one edge to said front member and having end strips upon its lower side, supporting-b ars pivotally attached at one end to said strips and at their opposite ends to the back frame member at such a point that when the shelf is turned to a horizontal position it will rest upon the said bars, and brace-bars pivotally attached to the ends of the shelf at one end and to the back frame member at their opposite ends at a point a distance below the shelf when the same is in its horizontal position.

4. The combination with independent vertic ally-extending front and back frame members, of a shelf hinged at its forward edges to said front member, bars pivoted at one end to said shelf and at their opposite ends to the back frame member, the same being pivoted to the shelf at such a point that when said shelf is turned to its horizontal position it will be drawn into engagement with the back member and pivoted to the back member at such a point that when the shelf is turned to the horizontal it will rest upon and be supported by said bars.

5. The combination with independent verticallyextending rectangular open frames forming the front and back sides of a folding structure and adapted to rest upon the floor at their lower ends, shelves hinged at their forward edges to the front frame, supportingbars pivotally secured at one end to the ends of the shelves and at their opposite ends to the back frame at such a point that when the shelves are turned to the horizontal they will rest upon the said bars, and brace-bars pivotally attached at one end to the ends of the shelves and at their opposite ends to the back frame at 'a point some distance below the shelf when said shelves are in their horizontal position, said brace and supporting bars being all of such a length and so pivoted that when the shelves are turned to a vertical position the back frame will be moved toward the front frame with its lower ends in contact with the floor.

6. The combination of a rectangular frame forming the back of the structure and consisting of vertical posts connected by crossstrips and a top cross-bar, a rectangular frame forming the front of the structure and consisting of vertical posts connected at their upper ends by a heading-strip and near their lower ends by a cross-bar, shelves hinged to the inner faces of the posts of the front frame and having end strips secured to their lower sides, supporting-bars pivoted at one end to the said strips on the shelves and at their opposite ends to the posts of the back frame at such a point that when the shelves are in a horizontal position they will rest upon said bars, brace-bars pivotally attached at one end to the shelves and at their opposite ends to the posts of the back frame at a distance below the shelf when in a horizontal position, hooks on one of the cross-strips of the back frame, and a rod carried by the heading on the front frame.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK VAN NOSTRAND.

DANIEL VAN N OSTRAND.

Witnesses OTTO F. BARTHEL, JOSEPH A. NoELxE. 

